Wu Shu-jen

The Diet has enacted a special law to waive tourist visas for Taiwanese for up to 90 days between March 25 and Sept. 25 to promote the expo. But a visit by Wu Shu-jen, who is reportedly seeking visa-free status, might be screened separately, according to the sources.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said at a regular news conference that the Taiwanese president would not accompany her.

A visit by Chen could heighten diplomatic tensions between Japan and China, which strongly protested when Tokyo issued a tourist visa last year to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.

China fears that overseas visits by key Taiwanese government figures will raise Taiwan's diplomatic status. This could damage China's claim that Taiwan is nothing more than a renegade province.

Hosoda said at the news conference that Japan had issued tourist visas to Wu in 2000, 2001 and 2004.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 5, 2005
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